


Her

by soulrider



Series: The 1500 Challenge [1]
Category: Star Stable, Star Stable Online
Genre: Fluff, and also society, anne hates capitalism, eli is dumb and also in lesbians, pandoria - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 13:05:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18965821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulrider/pseuds/soulrider
Summary: Anne takes Elijah back to Pandoria for the first time since they got to Jorvik.





	Her

“Are you quite sure this a good idea?” Elijah asked, barely able to be heard above the wind rushing all around them. 

Anne didn’t look back, but her cheeks raised up and she spurred her stallion on. “Absolutely not, that’s part of the fun,” she said.

The woods of Greendale were bright in spring, some weird kind of oversaturated green. It was absolutely beautiful and full of life as far as you could see. Lots of young wildlife and an abundance of fragrant flowers. It kind of reminded Elijah of home, though in the wrong hue.

At the top of the hill that overlooked the Greydew mountains and part of the Forgotten Fields, Anne halted Concorde. It always mesmerized Elijah how in sync the two were, their breathing and heartbeat followed the exact same rhythm.

“I think we’re far enough out here,” Anne stated and looked over her shoulder to face Elijah, who was holding onto her waist like their life depended on it. They had never ridden double and certainly not with a horse like Concorde, his whining about it certainly hadn’t made them more excited about it.

Eli only nodded for an answer, and a mischievous smile curled up the corners of Anne’s mouth. This had all been her idea, she was gifted with the power of the Sun and she was determined to use it for whatever the hell  _ she _ wanted to with it. In this case, take Elijah back to Pandoria.

“Alright, it’s been a hot second since I last did this, give me a moment.” Anne put her hands on either side of Concorde’s neck and took a deep breath. “Lend me your strength here, friend.”

_ “Anything for you, princess.”  _ Concorde planted his hooves firmly on the ground and raised his head, something started glowing around them.

Up here there was some breeze, but not nearly enough to have any serious effect, and Anne’s hair damn near floated as she charged herself with sun circle magic. Concorde seemed different too, a foreign aura surrounded him and his nostrils flared.

As if they planned it, both of their eyes gave off a purple glow, and Elijah knew they were ready. Anne seemed to draw out a rune in the air and pushed it away, creating swirls of purple and pink a few feet from the cliff’s edge.

“Take the path of the winds..” she whispered, and then Elijah had to cling on for dear life. Concorde had taken a few steps back to get a running start, not a hint of fear as he jumped off the cliff, straight into the portal.

And then.. they were flying. Huge, strong wings sprouted from Concorde’s flanks and he used them effortlessly as they headed straight into a world of pink. Elijah was too distracted by the fact they were flying, full of wonder as they soared through the sky.

It only hit them by the time they made a landing, somewhere in a field of golden looking ferns.

Anne laughed. “Well, this isn’t the most graceful landing we’ve ever had, but we made it.” She dismounted and took hold of Concorde’s reins.

_ “Anything we do is graceful, it’s us after all,”  _ the stallion rebutted, and moved his head to the rider left on his back to see what was taking them so long.

Elijah was crying, tears of red streaming down their face and all they could do was stare at the environment. Their heart felt like it was beating out of their chest and everything felt right in this moment. It was so familiar, the smell, the colors, the view, the plants, they remembered it, they hadn’t lost everything.

Worried, Anne grabbed their hands and helped them off of Concorde. She didn’t speak.

“I-I’m home. Is this a dream, is this real? Can I really be home?” A weird sensation ran down Elijah’s spine, like electricity was spreading through their nerves. It wasn’t a bad feeling.

“You’re home, Elijah. It’s real, I’m real and I’m here with you,” Anne said in a soft voice, which tore their eyes away from Pandoria and to hers, which reflected the same softness. “I’m home,” they repeated away, their voice cracked a bit and they couldn’t care about it.

In that moment they also realized they had changed, their hands in hers were as dark as the night, sharp claws curled around her gloves. They blinked a couple of times and then Eli reached to feel their face. Face? No, mask. They weren’t quite themselves, but not quite human, something in between. For a moment they were afraid she was going to push them away, and that all melted away as quickly as it came.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Anne murmured fondly, pushing a strand of hair behind Elijah’s velvety ear after she swiftly wiped away the red from their face. Their eyes crinkled and they held onto her hands again.

“Go?” they asked, their voice had a double undertone, something incomprehensible underneath their usual accent. It was harder to talk in this half form, so they stuck to easier words.

Elijah gently tugged her along and she went willingly, Concorde made a deliberate decision to stay behind for the time being. They went deeper into the field and Eli made a content noise every time they same something they recognized, which was a lot. They told her their names and purposes, fleeting childhood memories of feeling happy and free.

They don’t know how long they walked for, but they ended up at a lake, that has glistening soft orange fluid in it, kinda resembling orange juice. That’s where they decided to sit down and rest for a moment.

“You know, I used to not think very highly of Pandoria. Because am I, a human, supposed to do here? Humans ruin everything, I’m only an intrusion to this place and the people who live here, I should just let them be in peace,” Anne spoke up, the look on her face thoughtful as she took in this moment of serenity.

It was humans, part of a secret magical circle of protectors, but still humans that kept Garnok trapped here. They were the cause of the misery of thousands, their deaths, their blood was on the druids’ hands. If the keepers of Aideen didn’t exist, Pandoria would’ve never been harmed.

So, Elijah didn’t argue her on that, she was right, she always was. “You said ‘used to,’ what changed?”

“You,” she said, one corner of her mouth turned up and her eyes wide as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

They blinked, once, twice. “What? Me?” they were actually a bit dumbfounded at that answer. They had expected something like either a journey of self discovery or her finally getting fed up with Earth’s way of treating fundamental issues in society, although the latter was probably also true.

She nodded. “Yes, you, silly. Before you I just didn’t really care  _ for  _ Pandoria, I mean I still stand by what I just said but, it’s different now. Meeting you forced me to see my own ignorance, that silence is a form of violence too. I’m the only person who can fight for this place and make it matter, I can’t stand seeing it wither away under Garnok’s slimy, disgusting, horrible tentacles anymore. I have to fight for what I love.”

It took Elijah a solid moment to understand the underlying meaning of Anne’s words but, oh.  _ Oh. _

Tentatively, they reached out for her, and she reached back. Now hyperaware of their surroundings, Eli took note of the size difference their hands had, especially with theirs having grown quite a bit due to their shifting. Hers felt soft in theirs, she had taken off her gloves a while ago, but strong.

“I.. I don’t understand humans well yet, so I’m not sure how.. what this is?” Elijah wondered out loud, trying to see if they could read any emotion on Anne’s face.

She just tilted her head slightly. “Well, in my terms anyway, I think we could call this a first date,” Anne said, but her tone was questioning.

Elijah nodded slowly, they liked that word. Date _.  _ Not as much as they liked her though. She smiled in return, and it reached her eyes, she truly looked happy about this. They wondered what the next  step was, and decided they liked the idea of getting surprised more.

“I don’t think you’re an intruder here,  _ Anna _ . This all comes to you easily, it’s part of you. You belong here, like I do. You’re glowing,” they said. She still omitted a soft pink glow, though they meant it in a figurative sense. She looked so at home, so at ease, more than she did when they were riding through Jorvik’s nature together, more than she did at her shows.

“Thank you, Eli, really. Maybe I do need to rethink my sense of belonging,” Anne said, and with the way she looked at them, they thought their hearts might stop for a moment. Yes, they really hoped she would.


End file.
